Miami basketball bracketology improving

The bracketology for the Miami basketball team is improving from the previous one. After being projected to play in the First Four by Jerry Palm of CBS Sports and Joe Lunardi of ESPN last week, Miami is projected higher by the bracketology gurus this week. The Hurricanes won both games last week following two straight losses.

Miami has moved up to a nine seed in the South by Palm and 10th seed in the East by Lunardi. Lunardi has Miami trending down even though the Hurricanes are ranked higher than they were in his previous bracketology. The Miami basketball team is projected to play seven-seed Wyoming in the NCAA Tournament by Lunardi.

Lunardi has the Cowboys and Hurricanes playing in Indianapolis. The winner is projected to play the winner of second-seeded Purdue and 15 seed Cleveland State. Whoever wins between those four teams would advance to the East Regional in Philadelphia. Miami has not advanced to the NCAA Regionals since 2016.

Palm has Miami going from coast to coast for the NCAA Tournament. Ninth seed Miami would play eighth seed St. Mary’s in San Diego in the first round. The winner would play either top seed Arizona or 16 seed Longwood. Whoever wins the second-round game would advance to the South Regional in San Antonio.

The Miami basketball team is currently 67th in the NCAA NetRatings. The Hurricanes were 73rd before winning at Wake Forest on Saturday. Miami earned a critical quadrant one road victory. The Hurricanes are now 4-1 against teams in quad one. Miami does not play another quad one team in the regular season.

The Hurricanes’ remaining games are quad one or two. Miami is currently tied for third in the ACC with North Carolina at 10-4. The win over Wake Forest was critical. Wake Forest is a half-game back at 10-5. Following their victory over North Carolina and season sweep over Wake Forest, Miami owns the tiebreakers for third place.

Virginia is a game behind Miami at 10-6. Miami lost at Virginia but has a chance to split the season series on Saturday in Coral Gables. The top four teams in the ACC receive a double-bye to the ACC quarterfinals. Miami is in a good position for a double-bye following the victory on Saturday at Wake Forest.

Duke and Notre Dame lead the ACC with 10-3 records. Miami won at Duke and lost at home to Notre Dame. Finishing strong to earn the double-bye will be critical for Miami to finish the regular season. Wins in the ACC Tournament will greatly improve Miami’s net rating. Miami plays at Louisville on Wednesday night.

Following Virginia, Miami plays at Pittsburgh, hosts Virginia Tech and travels to Boston College and Syracuse to finish the regular season. After two straight losses and defeats in four of their previous seven games, Miami has improved winning their last two games. Miami will be projected to win most of its remaining games.